Mobile networks are utilized in a variety of tactical military and commercial applications. These applications often require a mobile network to be self-organizing, wireless networks that can operate in dynamic environments and provide peer-to-peer, multi-hop, multi-media communications. As a result, mobile networks are known for their rapid and convenient deployment, self-organization, mobility, and survivability. To accomplish these goals, mobile networks generally include a neighborhood defined by nodes that may be within line of sight of a transmitting node. Such line of sight nodes are generally termed to be within one “hop” of the transmitting node. In these types of networks, a transmission from one node may be broadcast to all nodes in its “neighborhood”. Typically, in order for data transmitted from a node to propagate multiple hops, the data must be relayed by one or more node neighbors. The data may be relayed in this manner until it has arrived at all intended destination nodes.
One important aspect of data transmission via a nodal network is the ability of neighboring nodes to transmit without interference. However, in a multiple access broadcast network, all network nodes may share a single shared communication channel, which may increase the possibility that two or more transmissions may collide. This may be especially true when two or more nodes transmit at overlapping times. Because there may be limitations on the number of simultaneous transmissions that a receiver can successfully process, collisions are typically avoided by the assignment of time slots in which individual nodes can transmit. To accomplish this, a node may select a time slot and channel that may not cause a collision at the intended receiver. However, during scheduling, a situation may occur where two or more nodes propose to utilize a particular slot. This is especially problematic when 2 or more nodes that are 2 or more hops apart, and therefore cannot hear each other, attempt to use the same fixed slot on the same channel. The result may be interference at the node connecting the 2 or more nodes.
Typically, this interference may be resolved by a bootstrap slot at the receiving node identifying that a conflict or contention exists. Conflict identification by a bootstrap slot generally results in all contending nodes backing off and selecting alternative broadcast slots for transmission. However, because the bootstrap slot for the resolving node may have already passed, conflict resolution generally requires the completion of an entire bootstrap cycle, which may consist of a number of frames, prior to resolution. Disadvantageously, this latency in conflict resolution often results in unreliable broadcast transmissions at the node receiving multiple transmissions.
Consequently, it would be advantageous if a system and method existed which quickly resolved broadcast slot assignment conflicts.